AllFreeNovel
Share Us
If all she wants from me is this right now, then that’s what I’ll give her. She might still think I have no capacity for a relationship because that’s the lie we told each other, but my tune has changed. Now, it’s just about finding the right timing to tell her so.
23
AUGUST
I’m not sure how I end up in Evan’s bed every night for the next five nights, but I do.
We don’t talk about the issues that seem insurmountable, instead letting our bodies, tongues, and hands do the talking. We go all day without communicating, with him at the restaurant and me at Lily.
By the time we get home, we’re both too exhausted to do more than fall into each other; the physical release is something I crave and need to get through the slog of the days.
That’s not to say we aren’t engaging in some pillow talk. That first night, we ended up in his bedroom, I almost left again like I did the first time we had sex. But Evan pulled me back to him and charmed me into staying in his arms while we slept. After that, I hated to admit that the intimacy was what I craved, so I just stayed without addressing the elephant in the room.
Last night, as he traced letters on my back for me to guess as I pressed up against his hard body, we laughed about a trip he took to Switzerland a few years back, where he mistook a type of local fish for cake. The conversation was inane and harmless, but those few hours in the dark, worshipping each other and then talking of ridiculous nothings, is beginning to become my saving grace.
The days are otherwise long and dreary. I fear the man from the driveway coming back. So far, I haven’t seen another sign of him, but the clock in the back of my mind on his demand ticks like a time bomb. I have the money from Mom’s life insurance in my account, but so far I haven’t touched it. If he, in fact, does come calling, I’ll use it to pay him off.
I’d rather be out from under his shady dealings than paying off a portion of the mortgage that will be there anyway. The debt weighs heavy on my mind, but I don’t offload the burden onto anyone else. No, I go to work, work some more at odd jobs, and then drag myself home to be with Evan, even though we don’t talk about anything that needs to be talked about.
Business at Lily has been doing well as the tourists venture into Hope Crest for the summer. I’m selling a bunch each day and have begun scouting new products around the area, even though no one asked me to.
I’m doing inventory on a new shipment of candles that just arrived when I hear the bell over the front door chime. I know for a fact I turned the sign, indicating to customers that I’m on a lunch break, but I wouldn’t put it past a tourist to wander in anyway.
So, when I wander up front, I’m surprised to see Leona standing there.
“Oh, hi.” I’m caught off guard.
Since my fight with Warren, I haven’t heard from many of the Ashtons. Of course, he and Alana haven’t tried to ambush me, but she did contact me initially to apologize and also tell me their reasoning.
Alana sent me a huge apology text, explaining that she wanted to talk to me in person but was afraid I wouldn’t see her. She would be correct in that assumption. I want nothing to do with her and Warren right now, which makes her being my boss somewhat difficult. While I despise them at this moment, I can’t just abandon this job. It’s good money and pretty much solitary except for the customers who shop here; I’d be hard-pressed to find a better opportunity while I think through my options.
Not that I have many, considering I’m buried under mountains and mountains of debt. Mount Everest has nothing on me.
As for the other members of the family, I mean, I’ve seen them, of course, but they haven’t spoken to me about the scholarship. I’m not sure if they know, are choosing not to get involved, or if they sided with their sister and brother-in-law. Either way, I’m not going to make an awkward subject more awkward, so I shove my feelings deep down and keep on with work.
“Hi, sweetheart.” Leona gives me a big smile and my heart twinges.
I’d have given anything for this woman to be my real mother once upon a time.
“Alana wanted to come, but the baby has been sick and she didn’t think you’d want to see her.”
A blush of shame coats my cheeks because a woman as kind and level-headed as Leona Ashton seeing me be so stubborn and brash is somewhat embarrassing. There goes my question of whether or not Warren filled the rest of the family in.
“She didn’t have to send you.” I try to stay calm.
Figures of authority, or anyone older whom I hold in high regard, make me nervous when it comes to situations where I might be punished. Not that Leona can punish me, but her disappointment is enough to send me spiraling. I was a pawn in my mother’s mind games for so long that I sweat when it comes to anyone in a role of authority coming down on me.
“She didn’t. I came on my own.” Leona moseys around the shop, picking up a knickknack here or there.
“Did you want to buy anything?” I ask lamely as if she’s here to pick up a local body wash or artisanal cooking sauce.
She shakes her head as she nears the counter where the cash register sits. “I won’t take up much of your time, but I wanted to come check on you.”
“I’m fine.” The lie pops out like it’s well-oiled and practiced.
I suppose that’s because it is. I’ve been using that line for decades.
Leona tilts her chin at me like she’s disappointed I’m lying to her. A hot-cold shame once again coats the lining of my stomach.
